


we're inches apart, even closer at the heart

by finalfrontierpioneer



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe- Ice Dancing, Complete AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Probably very inaccurate descriptions of ice skating, minor Beggie, tags will be added as we go along, you read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2020-02-16 08:45:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18688075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finalfrontierpioneer/pseuds/finalfrontierpioneer
Summary: They skate together so beautifully, Betty forgets she and Archie aren't actually in love. But it doesn't matter. What matters is they're going to win gold at the Olympics.And then Veronica Lodge rolls into town.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, i know this is off the wall. But does anyone else remember being obsessed with virtuemoir? So yeah, that's where this came from. I wanted to write Jeronica from Betty's POV, and it spiraled into this.
> 
> ALSO- this is NOT currently finished, so don't expect regular updates. Riverdale is getting less and less appealing to me, so my motivation is a little low. But i swear this is going to eventually be finished, if anybody's into it.

Betty and Archie are soulmates. Ask anybody who’s ever seen them skate.

 

They’ve been skating together since they were 6, and they keep getting better with every competition. They’re 22 now and their future looks bright. Everybody- their coaches, the judges, her impossible to please mother- says so.

 

This latest practice only furthers Betty’s hopes. It was long and grueling, but they nailed most of their lifts. There’s only one lift they just can’t seem to get just right, but they’ve got the time to fix it. 

 

When she skates off the center to the wall, leaving Archie behind talking to Geraldine about his timing, Jughead’s just getting here for his own rink time.

 

She makes small talk with him while he laces up his beat up black skates.

 

“You know, my mom says we’ll probably make the Olympic ice dancing team next year,” Betty gushes to Jughead without even thinking twice. At this point, it just seems kind of like a given.

 

She chugs from her water bottle and fans herself.

 

“Oh really?” Jughead says in his sardonic way, “Well, if Alice says so…”

 

Betty shoots him a look. 

 

He shrugs, “I’m just sayin’, those twizzles don’t exactly look Olympic quality,” he jokes before stepping past her onto the rink.

 

She rolls her eyes at his retreating back.

 

Archie finally starts skating her way, pausing momentarily to clap hands with Jughead.

 

He smiles brightly at her as he slides to a stop next to her. He pulls his sweat soaked shirt off by the collar and pops the cap off his own water to pour it over his head.

 

Betty’s mouth goes dry. She blushes violently and hurriedly looks away from him to where Jughead’s spinning in lazy twirls. Betty takes a deep breath and another daintier sip of water to cool her cheeks.

 

This reaction around Archie is nothing new, but she’s not a teenager anymore and she can control herself.

 

“Sorry about those twizzles out there, Betts,” he apologizes.

 

Betty waves him off, “Oh please, we’ll get it.”

 

“Yeah, but you already have it, I’m the one screwing up.”

 

“We’re a team, it’s not a you screw up/ I screw up thing, Archie.”

 

“Thank you, but still. I promise I’ll work on it and get it right next time.” He upends the bottle into his mouth.

 

Betty takes advantage of his inattention and eyes his bare chest hungrily. She can’t help herself.

 

So much for not being a teenager anymore.

\----

 

There’s a flurry of activity at the rink the next morning. Betty assumes it must be somehow related to the exhibition the rink is doing in a few months, until she sees the dark haired girl at the center of it all. 

 

Veronica Lodge. New York socialite, fantastic singles skater, recently dethroned by daddy’s sudden trip to jail. Betty wonders what she’s doing here at their comparatively small town rink.

 

Coach Wetherbee waves Betty over and officially introduces her. “This is Elizabeth Cooper, who you may recognize as one half of the most promising ice dancing teams in the U.S.”

 

Betty flushes and hurriedly corrects him, “Just call me Betty,” she tell Veronica with a firm handshake.

 

Veronica smiles back, all perfect straight teeth and dark eyes. Surprisingly, Betty likes her immediately.

 

“I think we’re going to get along just fine,” Veronica winks.

 

And what do you know? Betty actually agrees.

\----

 

It falls on Betty to introduce Veronica to everyone, and show her around the rink. Unfortunately, Betty realizes that none of this probably impresses a girl from New York.

 

She’s just shown her the girls’ locker room when Kevin comes up to them in the hallway.

 

He doesn’t waste any time, “Kevin Keller, singles skater,” he introduces himself, shaking her hand. “Both on the rink and off,” he says as an aside with a wink to Betty.

 

Veronica laughs brightly. “That makes two of us.”

 

“Three of us,” Betty shrugs sheepishly.

 

“Oh please,” Kevin rolls his eyes, “Everyone knows you and Archie are endgame.”

 

“Kevin!” Betty hisses. He’s unfazed.

 

Veronica raises her eyebrows, “Seriously? He’s a mega hottie. You go, girl.”

 

Betty blushes, “We’re not a thing,” she says firmly, shooting Kevin a quelling look. She doesn’t want any (more) rumors flying around.

 

Veronica ignores her rebuttal. “You know, it’s actually not all that surprising, I think the whole skating world ships you guys,” she shrugs as if it’s common knowledge.

 

“Ha! See, I told you!” Kevin says emphatically. “I’ve seen the tweets.”

 

Betty feigns offence, but truthfully, she loves that their fans want them to be together. She just wishes it were true.

 

“Anyway, enough about our resident Romeo and Juliet,” Kevin continues (Betty huffs in exasperation), “you’re much more interesting. What’s a girl like you doing in Riverdale?”

 

“Well, I’m sure my father’s recent trip to jail is no secret to anyone,” Veronica doesn’t beat around the bush, “my mother actually skated here years ago, and she decided we needed a change of scenery. I can’t say I disagree with her if I’m being honest.”

 

“Riverdale is going to be quite a change from the bustle of New York,” Betty says goodnaturedly. 

 

“Ugh tell me about it,” Veronica groans.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ll take your mind off of it,” Kevin wraps an arm around either girl, “say, have you been to Pop’s yet?”

 

“Pop’s?” Veronica says skeptically.

 

“Oh you have so much to learn about this town,” Kevin shakes his head in mock disappointment as he herds them toward the rink exit.

\----

 

Pop’s Chok'lit Shop is a real novelty to Veronica. But she figures, when in Riverdale…

 

So over shakes and fries, Betty and Kevin tell Veronica everything she needs to know about Riverdale. 

 

Kevin starts out with, what else, the boys at the rink. He starts ticking them off on his fingers.  “Now, he is definitely nice to look at and he skates well, but Reggie Mantle is the epitome of a fuckboy.”

 

Betty nods emphatically while taking a long sip of her strawberry milkshake. “And don’t forget Moose; he’s just as bad as Reggie.”

 

Kevin swallows. “Oh, right, uh, Marmaduke Mason, otherwise known as Moose,” he rattles off quickly.

 

“And Dilton Doiley is just...weird,” Betty interjects.

 

“Then that leaves Jughead,” Kevin continues, lowering his last finger.

 

Veronica snorts. “Jughead? What kind of a name is that?”

 

Betty pops a fry into her mouth and shrugs. 

 

“Oh, you just wait till you meet him,” Kevin laughs. 

 

“I can’t wait,” Veronica says sarcastically.

 

“I promise he’s not bad,” Betty reassures her, “he’s actually one of my best friends.” She shoots Kevin a quelling glare.

 

Kevin moves on, “Alright that takes care of all the male singles skaters. Now, the girls. There’s Ethel, the Pussycats-”

 

Veronica interrupts. “Wait, wait, wait. That’s all the male skaters at the rink? You didn’t even mention your partner,” she points out to Betty.

 

“Well, of course there’s Archie,” Betty blushes.

 

“No other pair skaters here?”

 

“There is Jason Blossom,” Kevin admits. “He skates with his sister- believe me, you do not want to touch that situation. They may be Olympic champions, but watching them skate just makes me uncomfortable.” He mock shivers.

 

“So, we’re talking a flowers in the attic situation?” Veronica doesn’t even skip a beat, popping another fry in her mouth.

 

“They’re very...close...for siblings,” Betty says, making a face. 

 

“Plus, Cheryl’s a real bitch. She basically runs this rink purely through fear,” Kevin says frankly.

 

That startles a laugh out of Veronica.

 

“Alright, so Riverdale’s full of fuckboys and one head bitch in charge,” she jokes. “Sounds just like New York.” Except back in New York, she was that bitch. 

 

Small town life was certainly going to be humbling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments have reinvigorated me!!! THANK YOU :D

Betty has known known Jughead almost as long as she has known Archie. She met him when they were children. Mostly she just remembers chubby cheeks and that same shock of black hair. And of course, the phase in highschool when he wore the same stupid beanie. Every. Day. She doesn’t even remember when those chubby cheeks turned sharp, much less actually meeting him.

 

However, she has seen other people meet him, and she knows he can be… abrasive. He might be one of her best friends, but she does admit he’s a little prickly. Prickly, but mostly quiet in his disdain for the other skaters at the rink. 

 

Veronica, on the other hand, from what Betty has seen so far, is absolutely not. Betty thinks Veronica could probably charm the pants off anyone.

 

So she doesn’t expect them to have issues. She doesn’t expect them to be best friends, but mostly she expects them to at least be civil to each other’s faces.

 

Betty certainly doesn’t expect to walk into the rink a few days later and catch them glaring at each other on the ice.

 

“This is  _my_ scheduled rink time, princess,” Jughead snaps at Veronica. Betty freezes like prey scenting a predator. 

 

“I know, asshole, you’ve told me several times,” Veronica responds with exaggerated calm, “but you don’t need the whole rink!” She sweeps an arm out, gesturing to the empty space.

 

Betty cautiously approaches the sideboard, trying her hardest not to be noticed by either skater.

 

“It doesn’t matter what I need, I signed up for it, and it’s mine!” Jughead’s way more heated than she’s ever seen him. Especially over something so small.

 

Betty knows Jughead is a little rough with first impressions, but she’s never seen someone react so violently upon meeting him for the first time. 

 

They’re up in each other’s faces now, Veronica straining up to meet his eyeline. He towers over her, but it doesn’t stop Veronica from skating so close to him Betty’s afraid she might actually shove him.

 

She doesn’t. “Wow, what logic-how old are you again?”

 

Luckily, Jughead just crosses his arms and looks unimpressed. And then he opens his mouth.

 

Betty takes that as her cue. She jumps in before Jughead can prompt Veronica to slap him or worse, knee him in the balls.

 

She clears her throat loudly from the boards. 

 

Jughead and Veronica both startle and jump away from each other. Neither of them noticed her approach at all, they were so wrapped up in arguing with each other.

 

“So, I see we’re getting along,” Betty says sarcastically.

 

“Veronica,” the way he spits her name drips like poison, “was just trying to take my rink time,” Jughead tells Betty. And then as an aside to Veronica, “Very much the entitled rich girl.”

 

Veronica explodes. “I wasn’t trying to take anything! I just asked if you would share! God, you can’t be reasonable about anything!”

 

Jughead just smirks in the face of her anger. Veronica’s eyes flash and she sidles right back into his personal space.

 

“Um, guys,” Betty begins, but neither of them is looking at her. She frowns.

 

She clears her throat loudly in the very tense, heated silence. 

 

Jughead and Veronica turn twin unamused glares on her. But Betty powers through, “Look, Jughead, you know Vee’s new, can’t you let her share this once? I’m sure she hasn’t had a chance to sign up for any ice time yet.”

 

She flutters her eyelashes pleadingly. Hey, she’s not above using what her mama gave her to get what she wants.

 

It works.

 

Jughead rolls his eyes, but sighs resignedly. “Fine, you can share with me.”

 

Veronica smiles brightly in satisfaction. “Thanks, Jughead.”

 

“Just this once!” He emphasizes firmly and skates away.

 

Veronica rolls her eyes in the wake of his departure. She doesn’t follow him; she comes over to greet Betty, “Is he always so…” Veronica trails off with a vague hand gesture.

 

“Curmudgeonly?” Betty suggests.

 

Veronica snorts out a laugh. “You’re a miracle worker, Betty Cooper,” she blows her a kiss as she smoothly skates off backwards.

 

Betty stands there a minute longer, watching each of them run through their own routines. It must be so lonely to skate singles. She wonders if Veronica or Jughead ever feels that way.

 

Probably not, she guesses by the occasional glares they’re still shooting each other. 

 

Betty laughs to herself and heads to the locker room to find Kevin. 

 

There had to be one person in Riverdale who didn’t find Veronica irresistible. She’s not at all surprised that it’s Jughead.

 

\----

 

When Betty emerges, fully briefed on the morning’s gossip and ready to skate, both Jughead and Veronica are gone, and Archie and Geraldine are in their place.

 

She’s instructing him on the lift he and Betty have been having issues with. But Archie actually looks to be doing it perfectly now.

 

Betty’s never seen Archie skate with anyone else. 

 

She doesn’t like it.

 

He lifts Geraldine up to his chest level, before pulling her over his head and down to his back to twist her around his back to his chest again. At the end, she wraps her legs around him, still facing him.

 

Betty blinks, impressed. When they’d rehearsed it, Betty had faced away from Archie after that twist. 

 

Betty steps out onto the ice and sticks two of her fingers in her mouth to whistle. “Wow, Archie, that was amazing!”

 

Archie drops Geraldine rather abruptly and turns to face Betty. She’s hardly ever able to make him blush, but his cheeks are rosy. He grins at her.

 

As always, she melts just a little inside.

 

“Geraldine was just showing me that lift again,” he points his thumb behind him as he points out the obvious.

 

Geraldine clears her throat from behind him and skates closer to Betty. “I think, if you guys put in a little extra time, we can reintegrate it into your routine by competition time.”

 

“Even accounting for the time we’ll miss when we’re rehearsing for the exhibition?” Betty has to ask.

 

“Oh, definitely,” Geraldine smiles reassuringly.

 

Betty turns to Archie and high fives him. She squeals internally. With this move, they are going to absolutely obliterate the competition.

 

\----

 

Cheryl has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. Every year, the rink holds an exhibition for the town. They sell tickets, concessions, t-shirts and beanies with the rink logo on them. When that hobo was still in his beanie wearing phase, they even sold replicas of that ridiculous thing.

 

All the figure skaters at the rink take part. They have solo performances, and group performances that they rehearse for months beforehand. Afterwords, the skaters sign autographs for the audience. It’s basically Stars on Ice for their town.

 

It’s a huge deal for a small town like Riverdale.

 

And it’s a huge deal to Cheryl Blossom. This year, though technically Wetherbee is in charge of the event, Cheryl has managed to insert herself into a lot of the planning.

 

She’s currently standing in the middle of the conference room, holding a clipboard. All the other figure skaters and coaches sit in folding chairs in a semicircle around her. 

 

“Alright, guys and gals,” Cheryl begins, “I know you all know the drill- except for the new girl-,” she points out with a flip of her long red hair.

 

“But this year, we’re going to go bigger and better than ever before.” Cheryl pauses, hoping for a reaction. 

 

Reggie obliges. “You know you say that every year, right?”

 

Everyone laughs.

 

Cheryl glares at him. “And? Every year  _has_ been bigger and better than the last. If you actually want to be featured, I’d keep your mouth shut, Mantle.”

 

Coach Wetherbee, the head of the rink, clears his throat behind her.

 

She flips from a glare to a sickly sweet smile instantly, “Kidding, of course, Reggie.”

 

She’s not. She’ll have to come up with some punishment for him. 

 

“So, as usual, this is going to be mostly ensemble based. That way everybody gets a chance in the spotlight- singles skaters, you’ll all get mini solos in those numbers.”

 

Everybody nods along, although who knows if they’re actually listening. 

 

“The theme this year is,” Cheryl pauses for effect, “highschool. Prom, football games, graduation, the works. We’re going for peak nostalgia.”

 

The cheers that Cheryl expects don’t come. Josie pops her gum in the ringing silence.

 

She trails her eyes over her unenthused audience. The new girl’s picking at her fingernails, Kevin’s taking notes (well, probably doodling), the hobo’s frowning distractedly into middle distance, and...Betty and Archie are whispering to each other.

 

She glares at their much too close together faces, but they don’t feel the searing heat.

 

Cheryl snaps their names. “Betty! Archie!”

 

Betty jumps. “Sorry!”she blurts out reflexively. 

 

Cheryl bulldozes over her apology, “Even though they can’t be bothered to listen, we’re going to give Betty and Archie a feature, since they’re America’s sweethearts,”she says, a little snidely. “And of course, Jay-Jay and I will do a piece.”

 

“But,” here she holds up a finger, “we’re also going to pair up a few of the singles skaters and do a couple ensemble doubles routines with the pairs skaters.”

 

All the girls perk up. She smirks, satisfied. Cheryl knew that would get a reaction. Josie raises her hand. 

 

Cheryl smiles smugly, pleased someone respects her authority, “Yes, Josie?”

 

“A few of the singles skaters?”

 

“Well, there are more female skaters than male, so no matter what, some of you,” she looks pointedly at Ethel, “are going to have to sit this one out.”

 

Veronica clears her throat, “Who decides who gets paired up?”

 

Here Wetherbee jumps in, “All the coaches will weigh in on the decision, and we’ll have a list of pairs by the first practice.”

 

Cheryl nods innocently before launching into a list of what qualities will be considered when pairing the skaters.

 

But really, she already knows whose year she’ll be ruining.

 

Too bad there’s no way she can split up Archie and Betty. Talking during her monologue. Rude. They should be ashamed of themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying for weekly updates on Tuesday? Buuuuut i make no promises


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> completely forgot i needed to update today! please excuse any errors here

It’s the morning rehearsals are supposed to begin, and the partner list still hasn’t been posted.

 

Of course, this doesn’t matter to Betty. She’s already got a partner. She’s never skated with anyone but Archie, and doesn’t plan on it.

 

Kevin and Veronica, on the other hand, can’t talk about anything BUT the list. Everybody at the rink has been talking about it nonstop since the meeting 2 weeks ago. Even Jughead’s been talking about it, although in typical Jughead fashion, he’s been less than enthusiastic.

 

The common room is packed full, so he has to talk loudly to be heard over the murmur of all the other conversations happening.

 

“I don’t see why ALL the guy skaters have to be paired up,” he’s saying, for like the 50th time in 2 weeks. He paces in front of the couch where Betty, Kevin, and Veronica are sitting.

 

“Yes, Jughead, we know,” Veronica says without looking at him, smoothing down her dark purple skirt. As an aside to Kevin and Betty, “I pity the girl who has to skate with him.”

 

Jughead makes a face at her. “I can still hear you, you know.”

 

“Oh, I’m well aware.”

 

Betty turns to Kevin, leaving Veronica and Jughead staring each other down. “So who do you think you’ll be paired with, Kev?”

 

“Well, since I can’t have you, I’ve got my fingers crossed that it’s Vee.” Kevin holds up his crossed fingers.

 

“God, that would be perfect. But somehow, I don’t think it’ll be that painless. Cheryl Bombshell’s got it out for me; there’s no way she’s gonna pair me with my bestie,” Veronica says.

 

Even Jughead shrugs in agreement. “She’s just jealous,” he says nonchalantly as he flops into an armchair catty-corner to the couch.

 

Betty blinks. Before she can process that nugget, Veronica clears her throat. “So Betty, speaking of partners, any movement on the Archie front?”

 

Kevin sits up eagerly in anticipation of her answer.

 

Betty blushes violently. “Veronica!” she looks pointedly at Jughead.

 

“Oh please, you really think Jughead cares about gossip?” Veronica asks.

 

Jughead sighs. “I really don’t,” he sighs. “Plus,” he smirks at Betty, “I’ve already heard Kevin’s ‘Betty and Archie are endgame spiel’.”

 

“Kevin!” Betty whips around to glare at Kevin. Before she can rip into him for gossipping about her to Jughead, of all people, Cheryl herself is striding into the room with the list. 

 

Kevin and Veronica, along with everyone else in the room, save Betty and Jughead, spring from their seats on the couch.

 

As Cheryl makes her way to the bulletin board, the crowd parts before her like the red sea. There’s a hushed silence as she pins the list to the cork board. She turns and looks at the crowd, smiling smugly. “See you all on the ice in 10 minutes!”

 

She waves on her way out of the room. The crowd fills in immediately behind her, everyone pushing toward the list. Kevin and Veronica are no exception.

 

“Please don’t tell Archie,” Betty blurts out once they’re alone.

 

Jughead doesn’t look at her immediately, but he shakes his head.

 

“Don’t worry Betts, I won’t.”

 

She sighs in relief.

 

But Jughead continues, looking decidedly uncomfortable with whatever he’s about to say. “But, you know, if you do...like him,” he grimaces,  “you should tell him. You know Archie isn’t the most observant guy.”

 

“You think so?”

 

“Betty, I’m not gonna say it again. You guys are my best friends, I already feel awkward about it.” 

Jughead’s quiet again while Betty mulls that over.

 

Veronica comes stomping back over, Kevin on her heels trying to contain what looks like tears of laughter.

 

“I KNEW she had it out for me!”

 

“Wait, who’d she pair you with? Dilton?” Betty asks.

 

“No,” Veronica snaps. She doesn’t say anything else, she just glares pointedly at Jughead.

 

He looks to Betty in confusion, hoping for an answer before his gaze snaps back to Veronica.

 

“Oh, fuck me,” he breathes.

 

Kevin bursts into laughter.

 

\----

 

 

Veronica rubs her arms for warmth. Wetherbee is showing the guys the steps to their number, and her own lack of movement has her freezing.

 

But watching Betty watch Archie is at least heartwarming. Archie is a brilliant skater, no doubt. But it’s more than that. Betty just seems to have stars in her eyes when she watches him.

 

Veronica leans on the wall next to her, searching the skaters for her own partner. Although Veronica was bitching about it earlier, she doesn’t really think she has anything to worry about.

 

She saw him skate when Betty coaxed him into sharing the rink, and she’s seeing him skate now. She’s grudgingly impressed, although she’d never admit it to Betty, or God forbid, Jughead himself.

 

“You know, I’ve actually skated pairs with Jughead before, if you’re looking for tips,” Betty jokes, breaking the silence and nudging her with an elbow.

 

“What? Do tell.” Veronica has a feeling she’s gonna need all the help she can get.

 

“Back when we were all just starting out, I actually skated with a few of the guys here- of course, we were all just teeny kids,” Betty explains, “Jughead and Archie were my best friends, so obviously I knew I wanted one of them to be my skating partner.” Watching Betty’s face, Veronica’s kind of jealous that she has to be on the outside looking into that kind of friendship.

 

“And you picked Archie?” Veronica asks, even though the answer is obvious.

 

Betty smiles softly, remembering, “Yeah, he was the one for me.”

 

Veronica raises one eyebrow, “Wow, you are really gone on him. I can’t even imagine…” she trails off.

 

Betty turns to face her completely.

 

“Give him a chance, Vee, Jug’s actually a really talented skater.” And he is. Veronica’s not arguing with that. His sharp and blunt style might not mesh with Betty’s, but she’s now seen him land triple axles and back flips. The boy’s not bad.

 

Veronica hums.

 

\----

 

Betty and Archie spend most of the first pairs ensemble rehearsal on the sidelines while Cheryl and Jason volunteer as guinea pigs for Wetherbee to demonstrate lifts with.

 

None of the other skaters at the rink have ever seriously done any partner skating, and it shows. Reggie nearly drops Josie on her face twice in the first 5 minutes, and Jughead keeps getting caught up in Veronica’s skirt whenever he lifts her over his head.

 

It’s hilarious. Never has Betty felt so validated. But really they’re getting nowhere, except frustrated with each other.

 

Wetherbee agrees. “Maybe we should slow things down a little,” he interrupts the various pairs. “I really just wanted to see how you’d do if we just tossed you in the deep end. And for the most part, it’s not the worst I’ve ever seen.”

 

Cheryl has a look on her face that says she disagrees.

 

“Let’s start out simple-holding hands.”

 

Everyone looks around, confused.

 

“I want you all to skate around the rink a few times, holding hands with your partner, just to warm up.” 

 

Nobody moves until Wetherbee shoos them out of the center.

 

Betty and Archie are actually notorious for always holding hands- it’s part of why their fans ship them together so hard. She’s always happy to hold hands with Archie; always instantly reassured and comforted by the simple gesture.

 

So when Archie reaches for her hand, she clasps his hand tight in return and lets him guide her around the rink. Betty doesn’t even have to think about it.

 

Up ahead of them, Cheryl and Jason’s strides are perfectly in sync. They always are. Betty’d never tell her, but she’s glad that figure skating and ice dancing are different sports at the Olympics.

 

Kevin and Val aren’t doing too badly at all; mostly they’re giggling about Moose and Melody’s near foot height difference forcing them each to adjust their strides.

 

The other pairs aren’t such naturals. 

 

Betty hates to think so uncharitably, but she thinks Cheryl should have actually followed through with her threat and left Ethel out of the group number. She and Dilton are...stumbling along, really. The grip Ethel has on Dilton’s hand is so loose, they’re barely even holding hands.

 

And some of the others at the rink seem to find it more distasteful than even Ethel. 

 

Archie nudges Betty, pointing discreetly toward Jughead and Veronica. 

 

It’s a hilarious image. They’re holding hands, but whispering heatedly to each other. Veronica’s practically yanking a recalcitrant Jughead along.

 

Betty tilts her head toward Archie, “What a trainwreck,” she mutters.

 

Archie laughs, “Cheryl really fucked them over, didn’t she? Thank GOD I have you.”

 

He raises their joined hands, twirling her playfully under his arm.

 

Off to the side, Jughead and Veronica’s argument is suddenly much louder than a whisper. Yikes. She makes a face.

 

She’s not mediating this time. (Honestly, they kind of scare her a little.)

 

Betty speeds up before she can feel obligated to say something, giggling and pulling Archie far away from that bag of cats. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your reviews! Riverdale sucks, but you are all awesome

Jughead and Veronica skated together for the first time almost three weeks ago. Things have not improved since that first day. Veronica is completely insufferable, and they clash on almost everything.

 

For instance, right this very second. They’re practicing alone. (It does not escape him that he reserved this rink time for himself and is being forced to share it with her once again.)

 

He generously refrains from pointing that out.

 

Jughead has plenty else to be irritated with her about anyway. This sequence is not coming together, and honestly, it’s all Veronica’s fault. 

 

She stands in front of him, facing away from him. Once she wraps the palm of her hand around the back of his neck, he’s supposed to trail his fingers down her side to her hip.

 

But. She. Won’t. Stop. Giggling. 

 

They try it again. He reaches the underside of her breast before she’s doubling over in laughter.

 

Jughead huffs. He pinches her hip in retaliation.

 

Veronica squawks and slaps his hand away. “Hey!”

 

He can’t help smirking. “Shall we try it one more time, princess?”

 

Veronica glares at him and turns back around once more. He’s still smirking at the back of her head when her hand touches the back of his neck.

 

And then she presses her ass into his crotch.

 

He chokes.

 

Jughead can’t see her face but he _knows_ she looks self-satisfied. And he can’t have that.

 

Two can play whatever fucking game of chicken she’s playing.

 

So he soldiers through, placing his hand on her shoulder. His fingers begin to trace their path down her side, but once he reaches the spot where she usually starts to giggle, he presses down more firmly.

 

Right into the underside of her breast.

 

Veronica gasps, arching into him completely. Jughead groans.

 

And then realizes abruptly what they’re doing.

 

His face bursts into flames. He yanks his hands away from her.

 

She whirls around, throwing herself backward a few feet.

 

They stare at each other in complete bewilderment, faces aflame. 

 

“Shit, I’m sorry-” Jughead starts to instinctively apologize.

 

“Um, maybe we should take a break- that’s enough practice for today, don’t you think?” Veronica bulldozes over him without looking him in the eye.

 

He nods jerkily.

 

She skates away and he lets out the breath he’s unintentionally been holding.

 

What the fuck.

 

\----

 

“Step closer, arms around his neck,” the photographer Cheryl hired directs Betty. She huffs, tired of being posed like a doll. But she nervously smooths down the pale pink prom dress her mother picked out for her and shuffles closer to Archie, doing as the man behind the camera instructs.

 

Archie grins at her reassuringly. Betty melts.

 

The flash goes off. She blinks.

 

“Alright, I think I’ve got enough here,” the photographer shoos them from in front of the screen. “Next!”

 

Finally, they’re done. Archie steers her from the room with a hand on her lower back. “What do you think Cheryl’s posters will look like?”

 

“Cheryl’s posters? Doesn’t Wetherbee have some say, too?” Betty points out.

 

“Yeah, right. Does anyone have any say with Cheryl around?” Archie jokes. 

 

Archie pulls the bowtie from the collar of his tux shirt as they head to the lounge. Everyone else is in there, waiting their turn for pictures. And there’s an eclectic mix of outfits, all courtesy of Cheryl’s ideas for the promo posters. 

 

The Pussycats are, of course, in head to toe leopard print and leather, complete with cat ears. Cheryl and Jason are prom king and queen (Betty pointedly ignores the incestuous implications), and the other figure skaters are scattered throughout the room dressed in either cheerleading uniforms, varsity jackets, or graduation robes.

 

It’s a good look on mostly everyone. Really, nobody ever said Cheryl was bad at what she did, just a huge bitch. 

 

Veronica waves Betty and Archie over to one of the couches. As soon as they reach her, she pops up from the cushions.

 

“You know, Cheryl might not actually hate me,” she gestures to her own outfit and gives them a showy twirl. 

 

Archie whistles in admiration and Betty can’t disagree. White turtleneck under a blue, white, and yellow cheerleading uniform. Veronica pulls it off like she’s been atop a pyramid many times. And she probably has. 

 

Betty can’t relate.

 

“God, you look amazing, Vee,” she gushes.

 

“Girl, you’re the one all decked out in a prom dress!” Veronica counters. “ _Love_ the pink! Very Sixteen Candles of you.”

 

“Thanks,” Betty grins shyly, fingering her own skirt.

 

Veronica turns to Archie. “Anyway, have you seen Jughead? He said he’d meet me in the lounge, and he’s late.”

 

Archie shakes his head, “Sorry Veronica, I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

 

Veronica rolls her eyes. “Typical. If he doesn’t show, I’m gonna-” she freezes abruptly, eyes on the door. 

 

Betty turns to see what has Veronica lost for words. 

 

Holy shit. Betty’s jaw drops.

 

Jughead slinks into the room, looking nothing like himself. For one, he’s wearing a letterman jacket and blue jeans. 

 

Betty can’t imagine how Cheryl talked him into wearing that. It’s the very antithesis of everything Jug was in highschool.

 

Once he’s actually standing right in front of her, Betty realizes he also has product in his hair. It just looks... so different.

 

Like, good different.

 

Archie nudges her and she realizes she’s staring.

 

Jughead rolls his eyes at Betty’s reaction, but grins crookedly at her anyway.

 

“You ready, Lodge?” he asks Veronica without bothering to actually greet her. 

 

Silence.

 

Betty finally pulls her eyes from Jughead to glance at Veronica.

 

She’s still staring at Jughead dazedly.

 

Betty clears her throat.

 

Veronica blinks, “Um.” She shakes her head, nearly dislodging her headband, “Yeah, let’s go.”

 

She shoves past him, clearly expecting him to follow. Betty hears their fading conversation as they get further and further away, “And don’t think I didn’t notice you were late!” Veronica hisses.

 

Archie flops down on the couch and pats the cushion next to him, “Take a load off Cooper.”

 

Betty grins and dramatically throws herself down, “You know, we have the whole rest of the day off. What should we do?”

 

She slips her heels off and pulls her feet up on the couch to tuck under Archie’s legs. 

 

Archie’s whole face lights up, “Pizza and game night at my place?” 

 

“Say no more, I heard pizza, I’m in,” Betty says.

 

Archie pulls out his phone, “I’ll ask Jug and Kevin, should I invite Ronnie?”

 

“Yes, you should definitely invite her.” Betty marvels at how quickly Veronica has become an integral part of their friend group. She’d even go so far as to call Veronica her best friend. Having a female best friend is actually the best thing ever. Veronica knows all about boys, and all about dressing for dates- she’s worldly and sophisticated and amazing.

 

And hey, with Veronica there, Jughead will certainly be more lively. They’re in for a show at game night, she’s sure.

 

\----

 

Except Betty doesn’t even make it to game night. 

 

As soon as she walks in the door to her apartment, she’s greeted by the sight of her sister seated at her kitchen table.

 

“Polly, what are you doing here?” Last she heard, Polly was beach bound, taking a mini vacation after twisting her ankle last season.

 

Polly stands from her seat to hug Betty and reveals a change from her usual flat stomach. “I couldn’t go to Mom and Dad with this.” Betty absolutely understands that. Her parents would _freak_.

 

Betty’s hand flies to her mouth. “Ohmygod, Polly!”

 

“Surprise, I’m pregnant,” Polly says wryly, placing a hand on her baby bump.

 

Betty can’t hold back the knee jerk question. “Who’s the father?” 

 

“Who do you think?” Polly smiles sadly.

 

Betty takes a deep breath. “What can I do?”

 

“Do you think we could just have a girls’ night? Just us? I’ll tell you everything.”

 

“Of course, Polly. Anything you need,” Betty reassures her. She reaches out and grasps her sister’s hand and gives it a squeeze.

 

Oh, Polly, she thinks. What have you gotten yourself into now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going out of town this weekend, so i may not have time to get the next chapter done by next Tuesday, just a fair warning!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all i am SO sorry i completely dropped off the map. Tbh my muse is pretty fickle, but i've been reading other jeronica stories and watching fanvids and it is definitely inspiring me.
> 
> But the MOST inspiring thing is the comments you've all left me! Seriously, thank you so much for all your support and enthusiasm.
> 
> So in honor of the Hugo Award AO3 won (!!!), here's the next chapter! :D

Betty walks into the main entrance of the rink bright and early Monday morning, after spending the entire weekend with her sister, only to be greeted with a giant hanging banner of Cheryl and Jason.

 

Ugh. They’re both wearing crowns and holding scepters, looking like quintessential prom royalty. 

 

Who are also brother and sister. Gross.

 

But she does have to admit the banner looks amazing. Betty has no idea how Cheryl got these done so quickly, and so well. 

 

Knowing Cheryl, she suspects some blackmail is involved.

 

As she makes her way down the hall toward the girls’ locker room, she can’t help pausing to inspect each one she sees. 

 

Cheryl (and Wetherbee, she supposes) has spared no expense. The rest of the advertising banners and posters are just as sleek and impressive. 

 

Most of them are exactly what Betty expected. The Pussycats look as fierce as ever in their cheetah print bodysuits and Reggie, Chuck, and Moose look like the typical football playing jocks. 

 

They play up the highschool nostalgia and it’s actually totally working. Even on Betty, who doesn’t have the fondest memories of that time in her life. 

 

She keeps an eye out for any poster featuring her and Archie. She has no idea what to expect. After all, Cheryl has never done her any favors. But still. She has butterflies just thinking about Archie’s arms around her.

 

And the idea of the whole world seeing that embrace, seeing them as a couple? 

 

Her face heats up just thinking about it.

 

But it isn’t the image of her and Archie that stops her in her tracks. 

 

Before Betty reaches the end of the hallway, she passes by the open door to the rink. There are a couple skaters out there, but she doesn’t even notice who they are, she’s so taken aback by the huge banner hanging in plain view of the entrance.

 

She just stares. Well, if she was looking for a picture of a happy couple, she found it. 

 

Veronica and Jughead look- well. They look like a couple. 

 

Jughead’s sitting on a stool, as if he’s posing for a yearbook photo. Veronica’s draped over his shoulders, arms around his neck. With their outfits, they look just like a jock and a cheerleader. The stereotypical highschool power couple.

 

But honestly, that’s not even what completely sells it. They’re looking at each other, and for once they’re not glaring. Veronica’s smirking at him, and Jughead’s in the middle of rolling his eyes. They look exactly like themselves. Except. They look-dare she even say it- _fond_ of each other. 

 

“Betty?”

 

Betty jerks herself from her musings and turns to smile at whoever’s interrupted her thoughts. “Sorry, hey Kev!”

 

It looks like he’s been here for a while; he’s already got his skates on. Kevin raises an eyebrow knowingly, “Distracted by all the advertising?”

 

“God, it’s weird, right? Like we were never that cool in highschool,” Betty shakes her head with a rueful grin.

 

Kevin laughs, “Well, Jughead certainly wasn’t- Veronica might have been though,” he jokes. 

 

Betty playfully pulls Kevin down the hallway with her. “Have you seen yours?” she asks, not even bothering to pretend to be nonchalant.

 

“I have! Honestly, I have never looked so good in graduation robes. Like I thought Cheryl was screwing me over, but it’s kind of awesome having a poster all to myself,” Kevin gushes. “Have you seen you and Archie?” 

 

“No! Where is it? Have you seen it?” Betty asks. She’s not even self conscious of how eager she is.

 

Kevin just smirks and pulls her back to the rink and all the way through the doorway.

 

There, past Jughead and Veronica, all the way on the other side of the rink, is the banner she’s been looking for. 

 

He throws an arm up, all showman. 

 

Betty claps a hand over her mouth as soon as she sees it- her and Archie locked in an embrace, immortalized for the crowds to see.

 

They don’t look as casual as Jughead and Veronica, that’s true. There’s less snark here and more innocence. Betty almost can’t believe how well she and Archie embody wholesome highschool sweethearts.

 

And the way Archie’s looking at her...well, it’s pretty thrilling for someone who’s been head over heels for their skating partner since they were kids.

 

Betty can’t wipe the smile off her face. Down the hallway to the locker room, through lacing up her skates, grabbing Archie and Jughead from the lounge, all the way out onto the ice and into rehearsal. 

 

And then Cheryl happens.

 

The rehearsal isn’t actually going that badly, but it’s clear Veronica is not on her game today.

 

Betty figures she’s still lightyears ahead of a lot of the other skaters in the rink right now, but her usual flare is missing and she’s actually missed a few of the steps.

 

She’s sympathetic, but really Betty and Archie are having a great rehearsal, and everybody has off days. It’s not a big deal.

 

And now that they’re rehearsing the jumps and lifts, Betty’s distracted by her partner. They’re her favorite part of any routine because she gets to revel in the strength of Archie’s arms.

 

Betty throws herself into a twist in the air without looking, trusting Archie to catch her. 

 

And catch her he does.

 

“Ohmygod, what was _that_?” Cheryl shrieks across the rink.

 

Betty and Archie blink at each other. Surely she’s not talking to them?

 

She’s not. When Betty actually turns, still nestled in Archie’s arms, she sees exactly who Cheryl’s scolding. 

 

It’s actually Veronica, who looks to have fallen on her ass. Jughead’s rough when he yanks her up off the ground, but Veronica doesn’t notice: her attention is completely on Cheryl.

 

“Cheryl, can you back off?” Veronica snaps back at her. She shakes Jughead’s hand off her elbow to meet Cheryl head on. The other couples nearby look on in what might be fear. Or might be sheer terror.

 

Betty hesitantly skates a little closer, pulling Archie along behind her.

 

“You know, Veronica, I’m starting to think Daddy bought all your trophies,” Cheryl sneers, crossing her arms and flicking a strand of red hair over her shoulder.

 

Veronica lights up in fury. “You _bi_ -”

 

Coach Wetherbee finally appears from wherever he’s been ignoring what’s going on and interrupts her. He’s quick to skate between them and block their view of each other. “Alright ladies, that’s enough.”

 

Cheryl just smirks and skates back to Jason, but Veronica’s still fuming. Betty can practically see the smoke coming out of her ears. 

 

“Miss Lodge, why don’t you go cool off, take five?” Wetherbee points her toward the exit.

 

She huffs noisily and whirls off, not saying another word.

 

Utter silence reigns on the rink. Betty blinks at Archie, both of their eyes gone wide in shock.

 

“Back to work everyone!” Wetherbee admonishes them. And then he’s back to ignoring them and letting Cheryl run rehearsal.

 

Betty wonders if maybe she should go after Veronica, but it turns out she doesn’t actually need to. To Betty’s surprise, it’s Jughead who ignores Wetherbee and follows Veronica off the rink and out of the room.

 

\----

 

Veronica shoves the locker room door open and is immensely disappointed when it just swings lazily behind her, refusing to slam. 

 

She wants to scream; she wants to tear her hair out.

 

The door swings open.

 

She wants to be alone.

 

“Really not in the mood, Bee, sorry, just gimme five minutes, okay?” she sighs, when she really wants to yell.

 

A male- very distinctly not Betty- clears his throat from the doorway.

 

Veronica instinctively jerks around in surprise.

 

Jughead’s leaning against the doorjamb in his socks, skates hanging around his neck. When she meets his eyes, he takes that as permission to move further into the room, plopping himself down on a bench. “You okay?”

 

She blinks, still not over the fact that Jughead Jones of all people followed her into the locker room.

 

And then he raises an eyebrow and all the fight comes streaming back into her. “No, I’m not okay! Cheryl just humiliated me in front of everyone!” Veronica throws her arms wide as if to encompass the whole rink.

 

Jughead shrugs in agreement. “She’s a bitch, but it could be worse.”

 

She makes a face. “How?”

 

He looks at her for a second, appraising her carefully. She’s not sure what he’s looking for, but he must find it because the next moment he’s straightening up.

 

“You know my dad’s a jailbird too?” He looks her straight in the eye as he says it, no hesitation, no embarrassment. “Only not for something as white collar as embezzling,” he smirks, self-deprecating. “My dad’s a drug dealer.”

 

Holy fuck. Veronica has no idea what to say to that. “Jug-”

 

“You don’t have to say you’re sorry for me or anything, you probably don’t even care,” he holds up a hand. “I just wanted you to know you’re not alone, I guess.”

 

She carefully seats herself next to him. “Thank you,” she says as sincerely and genuinely as she can infuse. Veronica gives him a small smile that might actually be the realest expression on her face all day.

 

Jughead knocks his knee against hers playfully and grins back at her. “What are frenemies for?”

 

A laugh bubbles out of her throat, “Frenemies? Is that what we are?”

 

He just grins.

 

Veronica rolls her eyes fondly and stands carefully, wobbling a little on her skates. “Alright, then. Come on, Torombolo, I think our five minutes are up.” 

 

She holds out a hand to help him up. He takes it without hesitation.

 

\----

 

Betty watches Veronica pull Jughead onto the ice with no small amount of surprise. Part of her thought he’d taken off after her to argue; part of her thought he’d just taken the opportunity to take a break from practice.

 

But no. Jughead’s somehow convinced Veronica to brave Cheryl’s presence once more. And she doesn’t even look mad about it.

 

Veronica’s not outright smiling, but there’s a pleased tilt to her mouth when she pulls him into their position over by Kevin and Valerie. 

 

Betty exchanges another shocked look with Archie. It’s becoming a common theme today. “Is Jughead secretly some kind of miracle worker?” he mutters under his breath.

 

Of course, it looks like the moment is about to be ruined by Cheryl. She sashays her way over to the newly returned pair.

 

“So glad you could finally grace us with your presence,” she sneers, projecting to the whole auditorium. “Are you done with your hissy fit?”

 

Veronica rolls her eyes in Jughead’s direction. “Yes, Cheryl, I’m done with my ‘hissy fit’. Are you done being a huge bitch?”

 

Jughead coughs into his fist, disguising a laugh. And he’s not the only one.

 

Startled laughter and almost scared giggles can be heard all around the rink. Betty doesn’t even bother hiding her huge grin behind her hand. Someone calling Cheryl a bitch? To her face? This is the best day _ever_. 

 

Betty can feel the heat from Cheryl’s glare all the way across the ice.

 

“I wouldn’t have to be a bitch if you would actually put in some effort on the lift instead of falling on your ass.”

 

“Fine, you wanna see it?” Veronica challenges.

 

She turns to Jughead. He nods, and without an argument, retreats to his position leading into the lift.

 

Cheryl pulls back, and without a word Veronica and Jughead are in motion.

 

And it is flawless. Whatever happened in the last five minutes, they’ve clearly come to some sort of compromise. 

 

Before, they had both been rigid and unwilling to bend to the other, and it showed in their skating. Their every movement seemed designed to spend as little time touching as possible. Hands on each other were either rough or feather-light with reluctance, and hips angled away from each other no matter how close they were supposed to be. 

 

It was obvious they wanted to make sure everyone knew they didn’t want to be skating together.

 

Now, they’re skating as one person. Jughead has clearly softened his edges, and Veronica follows his lead, pushing into his personal space with the assuredness of a lover. He lets her, even encourages her with firm hands pulling her closer.

 

They execute the lift perfectly. Veronica throws herself into a twist just as trusting of her partner as Betty had been, and Jughead catches her as effortlessly as Archie had.

 

Betty has seen both of them skate individually, and knows they’re both impressive. But she had no idea they could skate together like this. They hadn’t even wanted to hold hands mere weeks ago, for God’s sake.

 

“Wow,” she hears Archie as if from off in the distance. She can’t pull her eyes away from their friends. 

 

Wow is certainly one word for it. 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still alive!!! I'm really sorry that I'm taking so long, guys. I really appreciate every single one of you, and i AM going to finish this. I've just been feeling so meh about riverdale in general???

Thirty minutes before the show, and the rink is pure chaos. Betty touches up her eyeliner in the mirror while Josie and Mel fix Val’s last minute zipper emergency. The opening number has them all in the cheerleading uniform Veronica’s wearing in her poster, and it’s kind of throwing Betty how good she herself looks.

 

Sure, Betty wasn’t the _biggest_ nerd in highschool, but she was a straight A goody two shoes. She never even contemplated trying for the squad. She’d had figure skating and Archie taking up her time anyway. 

 

“You ready for this?” Veronica nudges her out of her thoughts, putting the finishing touches on her own mascara.

 

Betty grins and smooths down any flyaways from her trademark ponytail. 

 

“Well, I’ve got Archie so I’m completely ready, how about you? Think Jughead will catch you if you trip and fall flat on your face?”

 

Veronica laughs. “I have to admit, there’s a little thrill in not knowing,” she jokes. 

 

“Places, everyone!” Wetherbee calls from the doorway.

 

And the show is on. 

\---

 

Reggie is having the time of his life. He was born to wear a letterman jacket, really. (He can tell he’s rocking it by the way Josie and Melody can’t keep their eyes off him.)

 

When the time comes to shrug it off, well, he works the jeans and white t-shirt look too. 

 

On the ice, all the grudges and dislike any of them might have for each other disappears. Not entirely, Reggie thinks as Jones shoots him a glare for sliding to a stop a little too close to him. (Reggie can’t say he doesn’t deserve it- he did kick up some ice on him.) 

 

But Reggie kind of loves that everybody is all smiles on the ice. They might be fake, but they still count for something. On the ice is the only time some of these people ever smile at him- like Betty. (Usually she’s too busy smiling at Archie.)  

 

So yeah, he loves the exhibition.

 

It’s the only time he gets to skate with everyone else. Archie, Betty, Cheryl, Jason- they’re used to having somebody else back them up on the rink. 

 

Reggie’s not self-conscious of his skating, but even he’s a little envious sometimes. 

 

His smile as he reaches out to pull Josie into a spin is all real.

\---

 

Betty’s alone on the ice, and it is weird. Well, she’s not alone. It’s just that this is an all-girls number, and that means Archie’s back in the locker room changing for the next routine, not on the ice with her.

 

She shifts uncomfortably in her leopard print leotard.

 

Veronica winks at her from across the rink, mocking a cat scratch, and Betty feels her nerves calm. 

 

She adjusts her own cat ears and falls into place behind Josie, Mel, and Val, ready to slink her way across the ice. 

\---

 

Cheryl beams at Jason at the end of their set, perhaps the one true smile she’s smiled all day. He lifts her up into the air in his strong arms and she turns her perfectly painted red smile to the audience, who cheer wildly at their acrobatics.

 

Jay-jay’s the only one she trusts to be her partner, to catch her when she falls. He may hold her up, but her showmanship has catapulted them skyhigh in the skating world. 

 

This, she knows. Just like she knows tonight’s exhibition is a resounding success.

 

All thanks to her.

 

Jason gently places her on her feet and she automatically reaches for his hand as they bow together.

 

As long as they’re together, they can conquer the world. 

\---

 

The tribute to Pop’s was actually Archie’s idea, though Cheryl won’t admit it and Archie won’t push the matter. The fact that she even took his suggestion into consideration is enough for him.

 

He pauses with the other guys behind the bar set up on one side of the rink, just soaking in the atmosphere. The crowd is eating up their silly pantomimes. In their kitchen uniforms, complete with aprons, bowties, and hats, Reggie and Moose are miming flipping burgers. Even Jughead flips through an order book, mimes writing something down, and tears off the page to hand to Archie.

 

Archie laughs and pretends to read it.

 

The music changes to something louder and more upbeat. The girls are headed their way from across the rink. 

 

If the guys outfits are to push the comedy, the girls are certainly to draw the eye. And Archie’s eyes are certainly drawn. Knee-highs, short shorts, and a Pop’s t-shirt adorn every single one of them.

 

Archie can’t help but ogle them just a little as she approaches him. He’s not blind. 

 

And neither is Jughead, he realizes, who is very obviously watching Veronica bend over and flip her hair back.

 

Archie then realizes he’s missed Betty do the exact same thing and quickly turns back to watching her. 

\---

 

Veronica has no proof, but she blames Cheryl for this. The zipper on her dark purple prom dress won’t stay up. She can feel it slowly sliding down.

 

She panics. Not visibly, but internally she is freaking the fuck out. She can’t flash all these families. 

 

But what can she do? She can’t reach it, it’s in the middle of her back. She’s already out on the ice with all the other pairs skaters. Jughead’s going to come skating up to her any moment now.

 

Speak of the devil. She feels his hand low on her back, pulling her into the circle of his arms. 

 

As they mimic a slow dance until the real music starts, she furiously whispers to him, “My zipper won’t stay up!”

 

He frowns, confused, “What?”

 

“My zipper!” she whisper-yells, gesturing toward it with a jerk of her head.

 

The confusion slides off his face, but the frown doesn’t. This time, Veronica can tell he’s thinking.

 

He skims his hand up her back, yanking the zipper back into place as he goes, then keeping a hand on it. “How long will it stay up?” he mutters to her.

 

She shakes her head as much as she dares, “It’s going to slide down as soon as you let go.”

 

He sighs. “I’ll see what I can do, okay?”

 

He has to let go as they all whirl into motion and her heart sinks. 

 

She is going to flash everyone.

 

And then Jughead pulls her to him with a hand on her hip. It’s all part of the normal choreography, but he pulls her closer than he normally does. Somehow he manages to get one hand between her shoulderblades. He makes a fist, pulling both sides together and keeping the zipper from undoing any further.

 

Jughead has to let go of her once again and she panics a little. She feels it unzipping a little more every second he isn’t holding it together. 

 

Veronica knows her movements are stilted and Cheryl would definitely yell at her if she could. But how is she supposed to be confident? She launches herself into a spin in the air and has to hold her arms around her chest to keep the dress from falling down.

 

She lands it as well as she can, sure that any moment is going to be the most humiliating moment of her life. She’ll have to see it on twitter for the rest of her days.

 

But then Jughead’s there, altering the placement of his hands from rehearsal. It’s not much, but it gets the job done. Instead of her hip, he slips a hand all the way around her waist and up to high on her ribcage, refusing to allow her to spill out of her dress.

 

She nearly cries with relief. 

\---

 

Betty quickly yanks her graduation robes over her pink prom dress and shoves a mortarboard on her head, working in hair pins to keep it in place as fast as she can. They all need to be skating back out while Wetherbee is making his closing speech, which he has already begun.

 

Next to her, Veronica does the same, growling something about Cheryl and zippers. 

 

Betty doesn’t have time to ask. 

 

She’s back out the door and latching onto Archie’s waiting hand as fast as possible. 

 

They filter back out onto the rink with all the others to Pomp and Circumstance, catching the end of Wetherbee’s speech.

 

“Some highschool romances do last forever,” Archie squeezes her hand, “and some friendships stretch far beyond school years.” Betty watches Veronica and Jughead fidget with their tassels.

 

“We hope we managed to take you back to the glory days of highschool, but we all know you can’t stay in highschool forever.”

 

“So here’s our final number, a graduation! Because for each and every one of us, the future holds something new and exciting! So get out there and seize the day!”

 

Betty thinks maybe she will. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being patient with me!!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still here! just writing...so...slowly... now, fair warning, things don't look so great for barchie in this chapter, but i promise they are still endgame. To everyone who noticed the beggie last chapter, you were right!!!

Kevin cheers loudly, along with everyone else in the room, as Moose chugs yet another beer.

 

The afterparty (hosted by the Blossoms at Thornhill, of course) is in full swing and literally every single skater from the rink is here.

 

Kevin’s not even exaggerating. He’s positive he even saw Jughead helping himself to some of the hunch punch at some point. And Jughead never comes to these things! 

 

Kevin smirks to himself as he speculates about why all of sudden Jughead’s in a partying mood. Might have something to do with that trending hashtag on twitter. Jeronica’s been trending all night, which Kevin is DYING to rub in Veronica’s face. 

 

There’s even shitty cell phone footage of that whole prom number, which he’s pretty sure sparked the whole thing. 

 

He spots Veronica across the room and takes his chance, shoving through the other skaters to get to her.

 

“Vee!” he shouts to be heard over the music.

 

She twirls around gracefully, even full of alcohol as she is. “Kev! Ohmygod, I haven’t seen you all night!” she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him.

 

He grins and squeezes her back, knowing she won’t be too eager to hug him once he brings up twitter.

 

She pulls away to daintily sip from her solo cup and Kevin pulls up twitter on his phone. This is going to be so good.

 

“You know how I told you #Barchie was trending on twitter earlier?”

 

She nods.

 

“You’ll never guess what else is trending.”

 

Veronica looks intrigued. “What?”

 

He bites his lip to keep from bursting into laughter. “#Jeronica,” he blurts.

 

Her eyebrows shoot into her hairline. “What?!”

 

Kevin gives into the laughter now.

 

She yanks the phone out of his hand. “There is no way-” her jaw drops once she starts scrolling through his feed. “They’re calling us steamy?!”

 

He shakes his head in mock sympathy. “Apparently your unresolved sexual tension is through the roof.”

 

“We do NOT have unresolved sexual tension.”

 

Kevin smirks. “Have you seen the videos people took? It definitely looked steamy to me. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

 

She stomps her foot. “Kevin, I already told you. My zipper was totally fucked- he was holding up my dress, not feeling me up. There is NO unresolved sexual tension.”

 

“Well, okay, you might be right. There are some people who think you’re ALREADY fucking.” He points to his phone screen. “You might not have gotten to those tweets yet.”

 

Veronica looks like she wants to deck him. Kevin nearly doubles over, he’s laughing so hard. It actually might be worth getting hit.

 

But he’s rescued. Through the tears of laughter in his eyes, he can tell it’s Betty.

 

“Hey, you guys,” she interrupts them.

 

Veronica quickly hides the phone behind her back. Kevin lets her. For now. 

 

“Hey, Betts, what’s up? You don’t exactly look like you’re having all that much fun.” He says, pointing out her lack of inebriation.

 

“I’m actually looking for Archie. Have you seen him?”

 

“Not since my first drink. I kind of just assumed you guys were making out in a closet somewhere,” he teases.

 

Betty huffs.

 

“Same,” Veronica agrees, “I thought he was with you.”

 

“Hmm,” Betty frowns, “Well, have you seen Jughead?”

 

“No! Why would I have seen Jughead?” Veronica blurts out, voice higher than normal. 

 

Betty and Kevin stare at her. 

 

Veronica blushes furiously,. Kevin helplessly collapses into laughter again. 

\---

Though Kevin and Veronica were no help, Betty does finally manage to wrangle Archie’s location out of a cheerfully drunk Jughead.

 

And ain’t that a trip, seeing Jughead all smiley and happy.

 

Archie’s in the backyard, toes dipped into the Blossoms’ massive pool. 

 

She can’t help the soft smile that comes over her face when she sees him. He just has that effect on her. Even though she’s got a stomach full of butterflies and nerves, he doesn’t even have to do anything to make her smile.

 

Betty toes off her shoes and plops down next to him, dropping her feet into the water. 

 

He nudges her with his shoulder.

 

They sit there in comfortable silence for a minute while Betty tries to gather her courage. And she desperately needs it. Confessing feelings to Archie could be the best- or worst- thing she’s ever done.

 

But he has to feel something for her, right? 

 

Finally, she takes a deep breath and just decides to go for it. Carpe diem, right? “Archie, I need to talk to you about something.”

 

He turns to face her fully. “What is it? This sounds serious.” he chuckles nervously.

 

Betty’s quick to reassure him, “It’s nothing bad- I mean, I don’t think it is,” she stumbles a little over her words.

 

“Well, you can always tell me anything, even if it is.”

 

She gazes at him. “Have you ever felt like, maybe, we...belong together?”

 

Archie sucks in a quick breath, but his eyes haven’t left hers, so she continues.

 

 “Because I do. Feel like we belong together, that is.” She lifts her chin, trying to channel the confidence Veronica and Cheryl exude.

 

“Betty, you’re my best friend,” he says softly.

 

She doesn’t let him derail her train of thought. “And you’re mine, too, but I feel more than that for you.”

 

Archie’s eyes finally leave hers, and her stomach drops. “Do you not feel that way about me?”

 

“I’m sorry, I just- I’ve never thought about you like that Betty.”

 

Betty freezes. This is not going the way she thought it would. “What if you thought about it now?”

 

Archie grabs her hand, “I don’t want to ruin what we have. Isn’t what we have good enough?”

 

Betty blinks back tears. “Of course it is, I just- I had to tell you.”

 

He squeezes her hand. “I’m so sorry Betty.”

 

“No, no, I understand,” but if she doesn’t get out of here, she’s going to burst into tears in front of Archie and she refuses to do that. “I just need a minute.”

 

Betty yanks her hand from his and flees the backyard. And then the whole party. She manages to make it all the way to her driveway before she breaks down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for being patient with me, and for all your comments!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me?? Not making everyone wait for an eternity before posting another chapter? I'm as surprised as you are :D

Reggie rolls into the rink bright and early Tuesday morning feeling like a million bucks. The last show on Sunday went amazing, and he’s had a whole day to sleep off the hangover from the afterparty.

 

Now he’s ready to get back to his routine for competition. 

 

He almost doesn’t notice the one other person in the student lounge, he’s so engrossed in headbanging along with his music and drinking his fresh hot coffee.

 

Reggie nearly chokes when he notices her. Thankfully she hasn’t noticed his (what is surely)  embarrassing dancing. 

 

He pops his headphones out surreptitiously. It turns out he needn’t have bothered being quiet when he promptly trips over a metal folding chair in the middle of the room.

 

Reggie winces as a loud scraping noise echoes through the room.

 

He glances up at Betty through his eyelashes.

 

Betty hasn’t even looked up at all.

 

She’s just sitting on the couch, head in her hands. Even her trademark ponytail looks a little less perky than usual.

 

Where’s Archie? They’re never too far from each other. But Archie is nowhere to be found. 

 

Reggie takes a deep breath and smooths his hair back.

 

Here goes nothing.

 

He plops down on the sofa next to her. Betty’s head jerks up in surprise.

 

“Jesus, Reggie!”

 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. I wasn’t exactly being quiet.”

 

Betty laughs a little, but it’s not exactly happy. “No, no, it’s not your fault. I was totally off in my head.”

 

There’s silence for a second.

 

Betty sighs, “I guess I better go get my skates on,” she says reluctantly. 

 

Reggie holds out a hand to stop her, “Wait, hold on just a sec.”

 

She blinks at him.

 

“Are you okay?” he asks seriously.

 

Betty looks surprised to hear the question. He gets it. They’re not what anyone would call close. But it’s Betty. She’s always had her eyes turned toward Archie, and Reggie can take a hint. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been looking, too.

 

“I’m not,” she admits.

 

It’s Reggie’s turn to be surprised. He really expected to be brushed off. 

 

She smiles more genuinely at the look on his face. “But I will be.”

 

Betty turns to walk away. 

 

Reggie can’t just let her walk away. Not this morning. Whatever moment they’ve just had, it matters. For once, he thinks maybe Betty could see him like she sees Archie. 

 

“Wait, Betty,” he blurts once again.

 

She looks back at him expectantly.

 

He flounders. “Uh, would you maybe wanna go out sometime?”

 

Betty’s eyebrows jump up. “Oh!”

 

It’s not a yes, but Reggie notes positively that it’s also not a no.

 

“Er, I’m so sorry, Reggie, but now’s not exactly the best time for me,” she rambles awkwardly, “I’m just so busy with prepping for upcoming competitions.”

 

He feels a little stupid, but that’s not exactly a new feeling. Cheryl especially is always making him feel dumb. And Jones. And sometimes the new girl, too, honestly.

 

But he pastes a smile on his face anyway. “No worries, Cooper.”

 

“But I’ll see you around?” Betty asks hopefully, an olive branch of some kind. Or a pity branch. Reggie will take it.

 

He smiles, no evidence of disappointment visible on his face. “I’ll be around.”

 

Then she’s finally walking out of the room, a little bit of pep back in her step.

 

Reggie sighs. Man, Archie is such a lucky dude. 

\----

By the time Betty throws herself down across from Veronica in a booth at Pop’s, she’s exhausted. God, it has been a long day. And a strange one.

 

Vee must be able to read something on her face, because the first thing she does is push a full plate of fries toward Betty. “You look like you need some carbs and salt, stat.”

 

“You will not  _ believe _ the day I’ve had,” Betty vents while stuffing her face with fries in a move reminiscent of Jughead.

 

Veronica hums sympathetically, “What happened?”

 

And it all just comes pouring out. Everything that happened after the party, even though she’s embarrassed to admit to Archie’s rejection of her. The odd encounter with Reggie this morning- God, what even was that? She still can’t believe Reggie Mantle asked her out! It’s oddly exciting, oddly disappointing. (Why couldn’t it have been Archie?) 

 

After that, she spent all of rehearsal trying and failing to avoid eye contact with said skating partner. He looks so contrite and apologetic, it makes her want to strangle him. All day.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Veronica holds up a hand. “ _ What _ ?”

 

“I know, right? I was just as surprised!  _ Reggie _ , interested in  _ me _ ?” Betty laughs in disbelief. 

 

“No, not that part- well yes, that part,too- but,” Veronica shakes her head as if to clear it, “you confessed your feelings to Archie?”

 

Betty slumps. “Yeah, pathetic, I know.”

 

“No, Bee! That’s not pathetic at all!” Veronica reaches out across the table and grasps her hand. “That was extraordinarily brave of you.”

 

Betty glances up to meet Veronica’s gaze. There’s sympathy there, but no pity. It’s the only thing that keeps Betty from bursting into tears right here and now.

 

She takes a calming breath, “Well, I would actually like to completely forget it happened, if that’s alright with you.”

 

Veronica doesn’t look like she’s going to drop it, so Betty soldiers on, “What’s new with you? How did your practice go today?” 

 

Veronica gives her a look that says she knows exactly what’s Betty doing. But she relents. “Well, to be honest, it was actually kind of odd to be out there on the ice alone.”

 

That startles a laugh out of Betty. “Don’t tell me you missed Jughead!”

 

Veronica blushes, “No!”

 

Betty keeps laughing.

 

“Okay, maybe a little,” she admits. “I just, I don’t know, I kind of got used to having him out there with me.”

 

“There are certainly worse people to be paired with,” Betty says, popping another fry in her mouth. “Although I don’t think your- what was it, unresolved sexual tension?- can be replicated,”she teases.

 

“Shut  _ up _ !” Veronica splutters. “I’m going to kill Kevin!” She tosses a handful of fries at Betty in revenge.

 

By the end of dinner, Betty’s forgotten all about her boy problems.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to drop me kudos or a review if you like this!!!


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